Does your application have an edge?

Over the past decade, many enterprises have focused on moving their applications to cloud infrastructure. Most enterprises have considered a mix of public cloud and private cloud environments for their workloads. Various workloads have been successfully migrated to a cloud environment including data analytics and customer engagement applications. In the recent few years, enterprises have also begun experimenting with running artificial intelligence/machine learning, Internet of Things (IOT) and Blockchain solutions in public cloud environments. However, a challenge that enterprises running workloads in public cloud environments continue to face deals with latency introduced due to the distance between the point of contact of an end user and the public cloud data center.

Typically referred to as the “Edge”, the point of user contact has evolved from being simply a web/mobile browser to more sophisticated contact points such as “Smart Vehicles” or “Smart Things”. Such requests are often highly latency intolerant and also tend to have very sensitive security requirements. This has led to the evolution of the concept of “Edge Computing” which refers to processing an end-user/thing request at a point closet to the location where the request originated. A similar model has been in existence since the late 90s where content delivery networks such as Akamai technologies provided hundreds of thousands of “Edge” servers distributed worldwide. This model is now entering a “2.0” phase where the requirements around real-time responses & what processing is possible at the edge is getting more complex. In addition, the data being generated at the “Edge” is now orders of magnitude greater than that generated in the “Web” era.

Edge computing model will need the support of Telco giants such as AT & T who are busy rolling out 5G networks. Edge computing will need to rely on high speed cellular networks like 5G to ensure data connectivity even in remote locations. Delivering immersive experiences such as Augmented reality will need to rely on edge computing to ensure the vast amount of data being generated is processed in real-time to deliver an enjoyable experience. According to a Data Age 2025 study, almost a quarter of all data will be generated at the edge. Major hardware and cloud providers have jumped into the edge computing market, given the expectations around rapid YOY growth (35 %) and a forecast of ~ $7B USD. Legacy content delivery networks (CDNs) have had a taste of what it’s like to deal with the edge having delivered content to internet devices for the past two decades. However, the requirements around data storage and compute at the edge are likely to challenge even leading providers such as Akamai. Cloud leaders such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) have expanded their centralized cloud data center model to support an “Edge” infrastructure via their service offering Lambda@Edge. This service enables an application to delegate content processing for eg. to the edge and when combined with it’s traditional content-delivery network service AWS CloudFront, one can expect to apply “business rules” that execute on the edge via serverless functions. This can lead to a great customer experience by delivering relevant and personalized content to end-users. AWS also has a leading solution “AWS Greengrass” that let’s you run local compute, messaging and Machine Learning inference on connected devices. Microsoft is not far behind with Azure IoT Edge offering processing for connected things and newly announced Azure Data Box Edge that enables data processing at the edge. Other providers such as startup “Packet” are expanding rapidly to deploy a globally distributed set of edge locations. No single provider appears to have a comprehensive solution today as edge computing calls for network, compute, data and hardware innovations.

Edge computing will be a key trend that must be followed by organizations looking to transition into a Digital business. Edge computing will reshape both business operations as well as IT environments in the coming years. Will cloud computing be replaced by Edge? Not likely. Each will continue to serve distinct use cases. Centralized cloud infrastructure will continue to serve as the backbone for data and compute intensive workloads including Machine Learning model training while “delegating” lighter processing to the edge. For application owners that deal with “Intelligent” applications that need to process real-time information to deliver immersive experiences or predictive analytics, the future may very well lie at the edge.

How to Have a 10X Decade

Are you ready to learn a secret that can help you have a fantastic decade ahead? Something that may change your life for better? Something that has been hiding right in front of your nose but you were blind to?

Ok, Here it is, the golden secret that has made billionaires out of people who are broke & world changing leaders out of introverts:

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That’s it. So simple, yet for most this is still a mystery. So what does this mean for you & your success?

The key to success as Einstein stated is to “Know yourself” & then focus on leveraging your unique strengths. Every individual on planet earth is unique. There is nothing more distinct than the combination of your intellect, your personality, your professional skills, talents & your compassion.

“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.”

– Dr.Seuss

Make a sincere effort to get to know yourself, your strengths, weakness, likes/dislikes, & most importantly “your why” – the key purpose of your life.

Success is…Knowing your purpose in life, Growing to reach your maximum potential, and Sowing seeds that benefit others.

– John. C.Maxwell

Be intentional about getting to know yourself. Take the time to self-reflect. The transformation you will experience is truly phenomenal. Blocks you experienced in your life be that professional growth, self-confidence, financial challenges will start to slowly disappear.

You will find yourself willing to embark on a new adventure, a desire to reach new heights of success that will unfold opportunities that you never before imagined were possible for you.

“Knowing yourself & aligning your activities/profession to leverage your strengths” is the key first step. But is that sufficient to help you have a spectacular decade ahead? Not quite.

I am excited to share three key principles, from leading Sales guru & real estate mogul Grant Cardone, Author of the best-seller book “#10X Rule”. Grant is a living example of these principles.Granttook a massive hit in the 2008 downturn, & applied the principles below to turn adversity into a phenomenal decade.

#1- Think Big, Set 10 X Goals- Start by adopting a #nolimits mindset. We tend to set our goals low because we are afraid to leave our comfort zone and fear failure. To be successful, Grant, recommends doing the exact opposite. Set goals that align with your purpose (your why) & Set goals that are 10 times bigger than what you were originally targeting. For e.g. if you are looking to grow your business by 20 % this year, change your goals to grow your business by 200%. He also recommends writing down your goals down twice daily.

Set goals that match your potential, not your ability – Grant Cardone.

#2- No Excuses- We often inhibit our own progress by the excuses we tend to make. The #10X Rule requires a “No Excuses” mindset. We feed our mind with excuses to help us feel better about our poor decisions. Excuses are the root cause of failure and we must make every effort possible to develop a positive mindset and eliminate all negative self-talk & negative inputs from others to avoid tripping up on the tricky trek to the summit of Mt.success.

Make Time, Not Excuses- Grant Cardone

#3 Massive Action- While thinking big and setting #10X goals is a great first step, reaching new heights requires massive action. Grant states that most people take 4 levels of action a) No Action b) Retreat c)Average action d) Massive action. Reaching 10X levels of success is only possible by “Taking massive action” in your life, career and business. Massive action requires that you stay “obsessed” about your goals and go “all in” by committing ALL your available resources. If you haven’t created new problems, your actions are likely not massive enough.

Go the extra mile, there’s no one on it – Grant Cardone.

Setting #10X Goals, adopting a no-excuses mindset & taking massive action will set you on the right path to have a fantastic decade. However, staying on course requires a certain level of discipline. Success coach Tony Robbins has a great approach to ensure you don’t stray from the golden path.

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Define standards that will define your life. E.g. a standard that you establish could be to “Always be on-time”. This along with daily routines will establish the discipline needed to have a transformational decade.

Finally, do not let the past decade define your next. We all make mistakes & wish things were different. The power to change our lives is within US.

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To new beginnings, a Happy & Prosperous New Year 2020 & a fantabulous decade ahead!